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JASPERS held its third Stakeholders meeting in Budapest, Hungary on 7-8 April 2011. The first such meeting took place in Krakow, Poland in May 2009 and the second in Sofia, Bulgaria in June 2010. The specific objective of this year's meeting was to identify measures to better assist countries/managing authorities/final beneficiaries in improving the quality of submissions as well as streamlining the application process. The event was attended by some 100 representatives from managing authorities and line ministries from the JASPERS-supported countries, and by representatives of JASPERS partners, including the Commission (DG REGIO), EIB, EBRD and KfW.
In his introductory remarks to the first session on “JASPERS Strategy 2011-2013”, Rudolf Niessler (Director, DG REGIO) said: "In the next two years, according to the latest forecast, 264 applications will be submitted. The quality of these applications will be crucial. On our side, we should consider taking important steps to increase the efficiency of processing of applications".
The second session, chaired by Agustin Auria (Head of JASPERS, EIB), included an analysis of interruption letters; of the guidelines for the preparation and review of applications; of the new Completion Note format; of the imprtance of progress bilateral and trilateral meetings; and of the key remaining horizontal issues.
On 8 April, Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen (Vice President, EIB) chaired the morning session, continuing the discussion on the outstanding points of the second session and taking a closer look at the future of JASPERS after 2013. "JASPERS is unique at creating public knowledge and at establishing public and collective memory. Nothing, however, can replace the public administration and the role of the managing authorities. In the long run, nothing can be really effective without ownership", said Mr Kollatz-Ahnen.
Mr Kollatz-Ahnen also chaired the third session, focussing on the future perspectives of JASPERS and including an overview of the timetable and process for the preparation of new Regulations and a debate on the Member States' views on the future demand for JASPERS.
All panel discussions comprised presentations from the managing authorities participating at the meeting and were followed by a lively debate.
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